A conventional contact center may be, for example, a centralized and staffed office facility for receiving and responding to typically large volumes of requests via telephone. A call center is a type of contact center. For example, a contact center is operated by an enterprise (e.g., a company) to administer incoming product support or respond to information requests or inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing, product services, and debt collection may also be made. Additionally, a contact center may also, for example, process letters, faxes, live chat, and e-mails.
A conventional contact center may typically operate in a building that houses workspaces for contact center agents. Workspaces for each agent may include, for example, a computer and a telephone. The contact center may also include one or more supervisor stations.
Many major enterprises and businesses use contact centers to interact with customers. Examples include utility companies, mail order catalogue retailers, and customer support facilities for computer hardware and software. Some businesses may service internal functions through contact centers, for example, help desks, retail financial support and sales support.
A contact center may also be known as a customer interaction center because the contact center may be, for example, a central point from which most customer contacts are managed. Through contact centers, valuable information about one or more companies may be routed to appropriate people, contacts may be tracked and data may be gathered. A contact center may be a central part of customer relationship management for a company.